Hinge

ABSTRACT

A hinge for mounting a cover over an access opening in a wall that includes one hinge part mounted on the wall and a second hinge part on the cover. A link having one of its ends pivotally mounted in each hinge part is connected between the two hinge parts to allow perpendicular motion of the cover with respect to the wall during initial opening and final closing movements of the cover. A resilient adjustment means is connected between one end of the link and the hinge part mounted on the cover for controlling the angular position of the hinge parts relative to one another.

[111 3,758,919 [451 Sept. 18, 1973 l HINGE [75] Inventor: Thomas E.Dllworth, Jr., Huntsville,

Ala.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by theSecretary of the Army, Washington, D.C.

[22] Filed: Aug. 19, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 173,187

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 918,264 4/1909 Bender292/250 Van Voorhces 16/]84 Bommer l6/lli3 Primary Examiner-James T.McCall Assistant Examiner-Doris L. Troutman Attorney-Harry M. Saragovitzet al.

[57] ABSTRACT A hinge for mounting a cover over an access opening in awall that includes one hinge part mounted on the wall and a second hingepart on the cover. A link having one of its ends pivotally mounted ineach hinge part is connected between the two hinge parts to allowperpendicular motion of the cover with respect to the wall duringinitial opening and final closing movements of the cover. A resilientadjustment means is connected between one end of the link and the hingepart mounted on the cover for controlling the angular posi tion of thehinge parts relative to one another.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED 3.758.919

PRIOR ART FIG. 3

Thomas E. Dilworth,Jr.

PRIOR ART INVENTOR FIG. 4 BY HINGE ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION The inventiondescribed herein was made by an employee of the U.S. Government and maybe manufactured, used and licensed by or for the Government forgovernmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to hinge mechanismsfor supporting a door or cover over an opening the wall of a compartmentso that the cover can be swung in an arc to cover and uncover theopening and seal off the interior of the comparement. Any desired numberof hinges can be employed as needed to support the cover.

There are many applications for comparemtns sealed against the entry ofwater, air, or other gas and the invention described herein could beused to advantage in many applications. However, the invention isespecially useful when used with a door or cover to a compartment to beshielded against the entry or exit of radiofrequency (RF) energy. Suchenclosures were needed in the past to provide areas relatively free ofelectrical noise where radio transmitters could be operated. Now radarand tracking stations include equipment whose energy output is such thatin addition to shielding data gathering and processing equipment againstspurious electrical noise, it is necessary to guard personnel operatingthe stations and other equipment, from dangerous energy levels.

Such requirements lead to shielded rooms within shielded rooms or evento entirely shielded buildings. As shielded compartments become moreelaborate and more extensively used, easy access to the compartmentsbecomes increasingly important. Heretofore the access doors used inshielded enclosures were a major weak point in that they did not alwaysprovide adequate shielding and, due to their construction, they did notoperate easily.

- SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I An object of the present invention is toprovide a hinge that permits perpendicular motion of the entire door orcover during initial opening and final closing movements. The motion isperpendicular to the plane occupied by the opening to be covered. Thisallows a floating action of the cover sealing surfaces on sealingsurfaces around the access opening and results in an improved seal.Thus, when the cover is clamped down against the compartment wall by asuitable latching means (not shown) there will be, due to theperpendicular movement, a uniform sealing pressure achieved around theperiphery of the access opening. In covers or doors that swing onlythrough an arcuate path it is difficult to achieve uniform sealingpressures around the entire periphery thereof.

' Another important object of the invention is to provide a hingemechanism for a cover that can go through desirable perpendicular motiondescribed above without sagging due to looseness in the hinge parts.Such sagging is common in available hinge mechanisms capable of suchperpendicular motion.

A new and improved hinge mechanism that will accomplish the desirableobjects mentioned above while avoiding the disadvantages of prior artdevices consists ofa first clevis or clcvis-like hinge part mounted onthe wall adjacent the access opening to be sealed off. A second clevishinge part mounted on the cover includes an outwardly extending earportion having a hole therein. A link connects the two hinge parts, butpermits relative movement between the two hinge parts; each end of thelink being pivotally connected to a hinge part. The end of the linkconnected to the wall mounted hinge part has an outwardly extending lugwith a hole therein. A shaft is mounted through the holes in the lug andear portion and a coil spring is positioned around the shaft between thelug and ear portion so as to be placed in compression when the cover issecured in place over the opening.

The final closing motion of the cover is substantially perpendicular,but there is also some slight rotation or tilting of the cover and itshinge part about the pivotal connection between the link and the hingepart mounted on the cover. This rotation causes a slight compression ofthe coil spring. Therefore, when the hatch is released for opening, thespring rotates the hatch slightly causing it to pop open a small amount.This rotation during opening results in a wiping action between thesealing surfaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is pictorial view of a sealedcompartment, with most of the compartment broken away, illustrating howan overlapping cover is used to close an access opening shown inphantom.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the access opening in thecompartment wall and the cover. Electrical gaskets are shown mounted onthe periphery of the cover so as to contact recessed sealing surfacesaround the access opening.

FIG. 3 is a view in cross-section illustrating a known hinge that allowsonly arcuate movement of a door.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a hinge that has been used in thepast in applications wherein perpendicular movement of the hatch isrequired to achieve a desired seal.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of FIG. 6 with the door in a closed position.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of a hinge constructedin accordance with the invention disclosed herein.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings,FIGS. 1 and 2 are a simplified illustration of a shielded compartment 8wherein a cover 10 closes an access opening 12 in wall 14 of thecomparment. Wall 14 is provided with sealing surfaces 16 and cover 10has a gasket or seal 18 applied thereto which bears against sealingsurface 16. The cover is tightened down utilizing a suitable clampingmeans (not shown).

It is desirable that the intial opening and closing motions of the coverbe perpendicular to the plane occupied by wall 14 and access opening 12,that is, in the direction illustrated by the arrows A-A in FIG. 2. Thisperpendicular motion allows a floating action of gasket 18 on sealingsurface 16 to seat gasket 18 on the sealing surface. Furthermore, thistype of motion makes it possible to achieve uniform sealing pressuresall around the periphery of the hatch. Contrary to this; with the hingeconstruction shown in FIG. 3, there is no floating action of the gasketand only arcuate motion of door 20 is possible. This causes highpressure points on gasket 22 next to the hinge when the door is swung toa closed position.

FIG. 4 illustrates a typical prior art hinge of a type that permits thedesirable perpendicular motion described above. This hinge consists of aclevis type hinge part 24 having elongated slots formed therein, likethat designated by numeral 26. Door 28 has a second hinge part 30fastened thereto that is rotatably mounted in hinge part 24 by a pin 31that fits loosely in slot 26 to allow door 28 to have perpendicularmovement during its initial opening and final closing motions. Theproblem with this arrangement is that the hinge parts fit so looselythat the door can sag on its hinges, making the door difficult to openand close and increasing the likelihood of seal damage during use.

FIGS. and 6 disclose a preferred embodiment of a hinge mechanism thatwill allow a cover to move through the desired perpendicular motionwithout any lost motion or sagging on its hinges. The hinge consists ofa first hinge part 32 mounted on a wall 34. The wall has an accessopening 36 therein. Hinge part 32 includes a base 38 attached to wall 34by bolts or other suitable means (not shown) and two spaced apartoutwardly extending ears 40 and 42. The ears have through holes,indicated by numeral 44 in FIG. 5, formed in the outer end thereof.

A second hinge part 46 is mounted on cover 48 that closes access opening36. In this arrangement the cover 48 has a sealing surface 50 thatcontacts gasket 52 positioned on recessed surfaces 54 in wall 34. Hingepart 46 includes a base 56 fastened to the cover by bolts or othersuitable means (not shown). Spaced ear-like portions 58 and 60 thatextend outwardly from base 56 have through holes therein, one of whichis designated by 59in FIG. 5. A third ear portion 62 having a throughhole formed therein is welded or otherwise fastened to ear portions 58and 60.

A hinge position control assembly 63 is connected between the hingeparts for controlling their relative positions. This assembly includes alink 64 connected between hinge parts 32 and 46 by means of pins 66 and68 that pass through holes in the ends of link 64 and the through holesin the two hinge parts. This provides a pivotal connection at both hingeparts so as to allow hinge part 46 to swing in and arc about pin 66 andalso to rotate relative to hinge part 32 by turning on pin 68. A lug orear portion 70 is formed on the end of link 64. Lug 70 has a hole formedtherein whose center is aligned in a substantially straight line withthe center of the hole in ear portion 62. When so aligned a shaft 72having threaded ends can be mounted through the holes. The shaft issecured in place by nuts 74 and 76.

Nut 76 limits the counter-clockwise rotation of hinge part 46. A coilspring 78 positioned around shaft 72 is placed in compression byclockwise rotation of hinge opened wide its first closing motion will bearcuate about pin 66. When the cover has reached a point where thesealing surfaces of the cover and those around the access opening areapproaching each other, or are in contact, the latching mechanism (notshown) will be utilized to achieve final clamping. During final clampingthe movement of the cover is substantially perpendicular with respect tothe plane occupied by wall 34 and access opening 36. Such perpendicularmotion is accompanied by the desirable end results discussed above.

The effective length of shaft 72 is adjusted so that during theperpendicular closing motion there also results a small amount ofclockwise rotation of hinge part 46 about pin 68 that compresses spring78 slightly. The reason for this is that when the clamping force on thecover is released the force of spring 78 as it comes out of compression(or extends) will tilt the cover slightly with respect to the accessopening by rotating hinge part 46 in a counter-clockwise direction. Thiscauses cover 48 to pop open slightly and results in a wiping action ofthe sealing surfaces that has a cleaning effect and results in improvedsealing. In applications where electrical sealing is desired this wipingaction is particularly beneficial in that it improve the electricalcontact between the sealing surfaces.

This completes the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention. An alternate embodiment of a hinge mechanism shown in FIG. 7includes a hinge part 80 fixed to a compartment wall and a link 82pivotally connect at one of its ends to this hinge part by a pinnedconnection 84. A second hinge part 86 is pivotally pinned to the otherend of the link. However, pivotal motion of hinge part 86 can occur onlyby compressing one and extending the other of a pair of springs 88 and90. Cover 92 is pivotally connected to hinge part 86 by a pinnedconnection 94, but here again pivotal motion of the cover can resultonly after one of a pair of springs has been compressed and the otherextended. Only one of these springs is shown, see numeral 96. Thisconstruction permits the desired perpendicular motion discussedheretofore without sagging of the cover during opening and closingmovements.

I claim:

1. A hinge mechanism for mounting a cover member adjacent an opening ina structure so that the opening can be closed by the cover member, saidhinge mechanism compnsing:

a first hinge part mounted on the structure adjacent the openingtherein,

a second hinge part mounted on the cover member in a position such thatsaid second hinge part will be adjacent said first hinge part when thecover memberis covering the opening in the structure,

position control means connecting said first and second hinge partswhereby the cover member can be swung in an are either toward or awayfrom the opening in the structure and, during the initial opening andclosing motion of the cover member with respect to the opening, theentire cover member can move in a direction substatially perpendicularto the plane occupied by the opening, which perpendicular movement willcause rotation of said second hinge part relative to said first hingepart,

said position control means including a link having one end thereofpivotally mounted in said first hinge part and second end pivotallymounted in and said second hinge part to permit rotation of saidposition control means connecting said hinge parts so second hinge partrelative to said first hinge part, that said door member can be swung inan are away said one end of said link including an outwardly exor t ardthe access o ening and the initial opentending lug having a hole formedtherein, Said 5 ing and the final closing motion of said cover memondhinge P including an outwardly extending ber is perpendicular to theplane occupied by the ear portion having a hole formed therein that isopening,

aligned with the hole in Said lug, said position control means includinga bar'like link a shaft mounted through the holes in said lug and saidhaving one end thereof pivotally mounted in Said ear pol-on, shat? havmg3 P threaded 10 first hinge part and the other end thereof pivotallyeach end thereof that is larger in diameter than the mounted in saidSecond part to permit rotation of holes in said lug and portion t theangu' said second hinge part relative to said first hinge larairangemfim of Said second.hmge par} relative part said one end of saidlink including an outto said first hmge part can be adjusted by nghtenmgwardly extending lug having a hole formed therein at least one of thenuts threaded on said shaft to said Second hi e an havin an outward]extend: alter the length of said shaft and thereby adjust the g ear p ga hole tgormed theriny distance between said lug and said ear portion,and a coil spring mounted on said Shaft so as to be placed a shaftmounted through the holes in said lug and said ear portion, said shafthaving a threaded section on in com ression b the closin motion of thecover y g each end thereof and a nut threaded on each A door assemblyfor 3 Compartment having an threaded section that IS larger in diameterthan the holes in said lug and ear portion, whereby the angu cessopening formed therein and the compartment walls around the periphery ofthe access opening prolar arrangement of said second hinge part relativevide a door frame having sealing surfaces, said door asto Said firsthinge member can be adjusted y g sembly comprising: ening at least oneof the nuts threaded on said shaft 21 cover member that covers theaccess opening and t0 qj the distance between Said ug an Said earoverlaps the edges thereof to contact the sealing p and surfaces of thedoor frame to seal the interior of a 6 11 spring m u t d n aid Shaft SOas t be placed said compartment, in compression by the closing motion ofthe cover a first hinge part mounted on the door frame, member. a secondhinge part mounted on said cover member,

1. A hinge mechanism for mounting a cover member adjacent an opening ina structure so that the opening can be closed by the cover member, saidhinge mechanism comprising: a first hinge part mounted on the structureadjacent the opening therein, a second hinge part mounted on the covermember in a position such that said second hinge part will be adjacentsaid first hinge part when the cover member is covering the opening inthe structure, position control means connecting said first and secondhinge parts whereby the cover member can be swung in an arc eithertoward or away from the opening in the structure and, during the initialopening and closing motion of the cover member with respect to theopening, the entire cover member can move in a direction substatiallyperpendicular to the plane occupied by the opening, which perpendicularmovement will cause rotation of said second hinge part relative to saidfirst hinge part, said position control means including a link havingone end thereof pivotally mounted in said first hinge part and secondend pivotally mounted in said second hinge part to permit rotation ofsaid second hinge part relative to said first hinge part, said one endof said link including an outwardly extending lug having a hole formedtherein, said second hinge part including an outwardly extending earportion having a hole formed therein that is aligned with the hole insaid lug, a shaft mounted through the holes in said lug and said earportion, said shaft having a nut threaded on each end thereof that islarger in diameter than the holes in said lug and ear portion, wherebythe angular arrangement of said second hinge part relative to said firsthinge part can be adjusted by tightening at least one of the nutsthreaded on said shaft to alter the length of said shaft and therebyadjust the distance between said lug and said ear portion, and a coilspring mounted on said shaft so as to be placed in compression by theclosing motion of the cover member.
 2. A door assembly for a compartmenthaving an access opening formed therein and the compartment walls aroundthe periphery of the access opening provide a door frame having sealingsurfaces, said door assembly comprising: a cover member that covers theaccess opening and overlaps the edges thereof to contact the sealingsurfaces of the door frame to seal the interior of said compartment, afirst hinge part mounted on the door frame, a second hinge part mountedon said cover member, and position control means connecting said hingeparts so that said door member can be swung in an arc away or toward theaccess opening and the initial opening and the final closing motion ofsaid cover member is perpendicular to the pLane occupied by the opening,said position control means including a bar-like link having one endthereof pivotally mounted in said first hinge part and the other endthereof pivotally mounted in said second part to permit rotation of saidsecond hinge part relative to said first hinge part, said one end ofsaid link including an outwardly extending lug having a hole formedtherein, said second hinge part having an outwardly extending earportion with a hole formed therin, a shaft mounted through the holes insaid lug and said ear portion, said shaft having a threaded section oneach end thereof and a nut threaded on each threaded section that islarger in diameter than the holes in said lug and ear portion, wherebythe angular arrangement of said second hinge part relative to said firsthinge member can be adjusted by tightening at least one of the nutsthreaded on said shaft to adjust the distance between said lug and saidear portion, and a coil spring mounted on said shaft so as to be placedin compression by the closing motion of the cover member.